


Afterlife Coda III - In the Sand

by teacup_of_doom



Series: Scenes from an Alternate Galaxy [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, star war
Genre: Afterlife, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin Regrets, Anakin goes to look for his master, Anakin hates Sand, Angst, Ben Kenobi - Freeform, Cody just wants to talk to his General, Even in the Afterlife, F/M, Female Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gen, Krayt Dragons, Literally Walking Towards Reconsiliation, Meals in Cans, Mentions of Mace Windu, Mentions of Other Jedi, Mentions of Rex, Mentions of Yoda, New Clone Armor, New Jedi Temple, Poor Anakin, Poor Cody, Probably my bad spelling, Protective Cody, Revan Goes on Camping Trips with Ben in the Desert, Revan is amused, Walking Towards a Reconsiliation, What's that Symbol?, clone feels, dealing with the past, fem!Obi-Wan Kenobi - Freeform, more angst!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 23:38:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6214726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teacup_of_doom/pseuds/teacup_of_doom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anakin goes looking for Obi-Wan, but runs into a familiar face amidst the sands of Tatooine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Afterlife Coda III - In the Sand

**Author's Note:**

> New chapter! Hope you enjoy it. (Angst! Angst!) Thank you to the lovely Laughing_Phoenix and rustingroses for beta-ing. 
> 
> I've got a soundtrack for the series starting to form:
> 
> Theme song for the Codas: The Oh Hello's - 'I Have Made Mistakes' (see end of chapter). 
> 
> Will have a happier theme song for the chapter after this one, because it made laughing_phoneix cry (sorry not sorry). 
> 
> As always, find me on tumblr: http://allhailthetea.tumblr.com/

* * *

Anakin cursed sand for the umpteenth time as he stumbled over the dunes of New Tatooine, fervently, finally, searching for Obi-Wan.

His (true) Master seemed to have made a run for the hills, not that he could blame her after Padme’s chat. Sometimes Padme’s arguments made him want to do the same thing, he’d just never acted on it.

When Anakin had found the hut of Ben Kenobi (and Anakin had no idea how a two story house was a hut), it was dark, the door locked, and empty. Tracks in the sand had led away from the house - two sets of them. Neither had the tread of someone under duress, which was a relief, and Anakin would know Obi-Wan’s treadmarks anywhere. Which meant that the other pair of feet had to be those of the Prodigal Knight’s.

Padme had explained how Luke had been raised by Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine, as she had been told by Obi-Wan herself. It was the one planet, Obi-Wan had rightly guessed, that Darth Vader would never have set foot on ever again given half the chance. There, his Obi-Wan had lived a solitary life guarding her nephew, and had become Crazy Old Ben Kenobi. (If the epithet had made Anakin’s fists clench when he was told of it, Padme refused to acknowledge it.) Living off of a meager, almost constantly breaking set of water vaporators and doing odd favors for the population aged Ben precipitously. Obi-Wan had not been able to put up much of a fight on the Death Star - she could not have. Arthritis and poor nutrition, amongst other factors, had taken the rest of her vitality.   

Padme, however, could not shed light on why Revan had thrown in his lot with Obi-Wan. Instead she had revealed only that when she’d asked why, Revan had muttered something about ‘krayt dragons’ and ‘idiots’*.

Anakin couldn’t quite figure out where the krayt dragons came in.

Still, even with the Force, Anakin was having trouble locating his errant Master. It was most likely because Obi-Wan had been one of the best, if not the best, in the Order at shielding. She had definitely been one of the best at evasion when the need arose. (He’d always suspected that there had been times Obi-Wan had been captured purely on the basis that she’d wanted to be - especially if it had furthered an investigation.) If Obi-Wan was using that prowess now, it certainly was a good explanation as to why he couldn’t find her. Additionally, sadly, Obi-Wan had lived on Tatooine for far longer than Anakin ever had. Which meant that Obi-Wan knew the Wastes like the back of her hand.

That was in equal parts amazing and very distressing if Anakin wanted to think about it, and he was trying not to, as he was the reason she’d ended up on Tatooine in the first place.

With every step Anakin was being reminded of things. His childhood, certainly, but also his words on Mustafar. While he could not take back what had been said or done, hindsight (being dead was probably the most extreme form of hindsight anyone was likely to get) had revealed that much of what he had voiced had been Palpatine’s manipulations twisting his heart and his mind, mixing with Anakin’s own anger and frustrations - even perhaps enhanced by Palpatine and the Force. The result had been exactly what Palpatine had been hoping for - Anakin had put distance between himself and his two most influential anchors to the Light - Padme and Obi-Wan. Enough so that he had eventually killed them both.

In the afterlife, full of hope, Anakin had traveled to the New Jedi Temple several times. The first time because he had honestly no idea where to go, being newly dead and a Jedi for the first time in a little over two decades. He’d hoped that he would find Obi-Wan amidst the throng. After the first time, however, he had only returned in the protective presence of Masters Yoda, Windu, and several other Jedi he had come to see as friends.

Most of his fellow Jedi avoided Anakin like the plague, or threatened to do him harm. It hurt, but Anakin understood all too well why they did so - after all, he had nearly exterminated the Jedi entirely. It never failed to make him curse his own past actions, especially when younglings flinched at the sight of him. Those who approached him openly were those who had had similar experiences as he had. Depa Billaba, who had fallen to the Dark side during the Clone Wars, had found redemption amongst the dead. She had been one of the first to shield him from disputes, and even to share meals with him. Other fallen Jedi had greeted Anakin similarly, and even visited the house on New Naboo.

Anakin hadn’t quite understood why there had been a tentative acceptance of him so soon, when what he had done was still fresh in recent events, until one of the oldest Jedi he had ever met had pulled him aside and told Anakin that ‘once you’ve been dead long enough, Skywalker, old grudges simply stop mattering. We don’t have to hold onto them now - here, we can put them aside. Here, we can simply _be_.”

It was a mindset that Anakin strove to hold onto. One he should have probably - at Obi-Wan’s prompting - learned years ago.

He was learning it now. Now, so far removed from Palpatine’s influence and his own buzzing perturbations, he was finally learning what peace meant.

But Anakin knew he still had far to go if he truly wanted to atone, to make full sense of what had happened and to reconcile what his actions had wrought. Speaking to Obi-Wan, even if she rejected him (he didn’t really know what he’d do if she completely renounced him), was a prominent part of that. He’d betrayed her more than he had even the Order.

So intent was he on scanning for Obi-Wan, Anakin was extremely surprised when he jumped over a dune to land in a small Clone scout camp. There were three clones - two were sitting around the campfire and Anakin had found them sharing a meal out of cans - one even had his fork half-raised to his mouth. The third clone had his back to Anakin, lying down on a dune, binoculars raised and peering at something to the distant south-west. None of them were wearing the clone trooper armor Anakin had been accustomed to during the Clone Wars. Instead, they were bedecked in something similar, but in tan undertones, with blue lines along some of the edges. There was a symbol painted on the right shoulder, a mesh of the Open Circle Fleet’s insignia, upright, with a lightsaber through it. It was a new one on Anakin.

The clone holding the fork lowered it. “Sir?” He whispered, though not, as Anakin thought for a split second, addressing him.

The figure lying on the hill scrabbled backwards with the ease of a man who’d lived his entire life in a combat zone. This clone - a commander - stood up to face Anakin. He looked older than the others, greying at his temples, more lines on his face, but Anakin would recognize the man anywhere, even without the scar gracing the left eyebrow.

It was Commander Cody. Anakin couldn’t help but grin at the sight of him. It was good to see him, certainly, and it was all Anakin could do not to look around for Rex. Best of all, if Cody was all the way out here Anakin was on the right track in his search for Obi-Wan. There was only one person Cody would put this much effort and secrecy into guarding, and Force knew that Cody had protected Obi-Wan behind her back more than once*.

Cody raised a disbelieving eyebrow, and gave Anakin a patented clone ‘what the Force are you doing here?’ look.

Anakin opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when Cody signaled for silence. He was right, of course. Sound carried in the desert. _I’m looking for Obi-Wan._ Anakin signed instead. _I need to talk to her._

Cody frowned, looked Anakin up and down, and then shook his head. _Sit down General_.

Anakin dithered, but sensed that he would not get any closer to Obi-Wan unless he did what Cody told him, so he sank onto a cross legged position next to one of the clones he didn’t know the name of and was immediately handed a can of what Anakin hoped was a decent meal. He nodded his thanks to the clone, who nodded back. _Thanks._

 _We look after our Generals._ The clone replied. _Even you._

Anakin internally winced at the implication of the clone’s words. What was meant by this, he surmised, was that they’d feed him because he’d been one of their Generals despite his foray into playing Sith lord. Even the clones had hated the Sith. Instead of acknowledging the words, Anakin held out a hand and emphasized his title. _Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker_.

The clone warily took the hand. _Packer, sir._ He nodded towards the other clone Anakin didn’t know. _That’s Spacemonkey**._

Anakin raised an eyebrow. Spacemonkey rolled his eyes. _I tried to change my name, but I’m stuck with this one, sir._

 _It_ fits _._ Packer insisted. _It really does._ He signed to Anakin.

Anakin huffed a laugh and ate a forkful of the meal, balancing the tin on his knees so that his other hand was free to sign. The meal tasted delicious. Beans in sauce with some sort of unidentifiable meat. (He vaguely wondered who was supplying them and where he could get more for home. The Clone Wars had left a mark on him in one of the weirdest of manners, in that he sometimes craved field rations in the worst way.)

He was aware that Cody was watching him intently. With a hand, Anakin painstakingly signed out _I’m not here to make trouble, Commander._

Cody’s mouth twitched. _You’re Jedi. Trouble follows you. And her. Then there's the chaos._

Anakin nodded, internally amused. _True._ It was past time for lying. _Still doesn’t mean that I intend to make any right now. And not for Obi-Wan. Especially not for Obi-Wan._ His fork scraped the bottom of the can.

Cody watched him put the can down on the sand. _Come with me._ To his tiny squad, Cody ordered _Keep an eye on General Kenobi._

 _Yes sir._ Silently chorused the clones.

Anakin rose from the bonfire as Cody did, leaving his can in the sand, and followed the clone commander back into the relative darkness. They sat a few meters from the camp, under the stars.

 _I don’t have the power to stop you from going to see her._ Cody told him. _Fuck knows you’ll just,_ he waggled his fingers. _Use the Force and do it anyway._

 _So why stop me at all?_ Anakin asked.

 _I’m trying to protect her._ Cody said, stating the obvious. _No offense, General, but that includes protecting her from you._

It made sense, and it was good reasoning, he had been a threat after all. Anakin took his time in responding because of the verbal blow. _I_ _need to talk to her._ Anakin said. _It’s high time that I did. Padme said that it would be good for us to talk, and I agreed. I've put it off too long._

Cody nodded, agreeing. _I’ll give you that._ The clone commanders tended to agree with Padme. Something about Padme having more common sense than both Anakin and Obi-Wan combined.

Something occurred to Anakin. _You haven’t talked to her either, have you Commander?_

Cody looked away. _How the fuck can I?_ Anakin was confused.

 _Order 66._ Cody snapped, meeting Anakin’s eyes. _I ordered the cannon to fire on her. My own General._ Cody looked up at the night sky. _I can’t face her, for the same reason you couldn’t._

 _You didn’t actually kill her._ Anakin reminded him, looking around the gloom, still wary of the desert. _That unfortunate honor goes to me._

They were silent for a moment, two men - one who followed orders and one who slaughtered thousands, side by side in the afterlife.

 _She’d forgive you._ Anakin told the other man. _I know what the inhibitor chips really did. I know you had no choice._ What he didn’t say was that if Cody had been hanging around long enough, Obi-Wan probably already knew Cody was keeping an eye on her.

Cody shook his head, swallowing what Anakin sensed was a denial.

 _Is Rex around?_ Anakin asked, trying to pull Cody out of it.

Cody huffed a laugh, deep in his chest. _Yeah. We’ve holed up on a planet that we know was uninhabited. We’ve kept the command structure, and so he’s stuck with all his old lunkheads. We’re not exactly welcome near the New Jedi Temple._

 _I’m not exactly welcome around there either._ Anakin reminded him sadly.

 _Go see her._ Cody said, after a long stretch of silence. Anakin looked at him warily. _General. Go._

Anakin didn’t move. Cody shot him an annoyed look. _General. Just-._ Cody’s hands were coated in sand as he signed. _Please._

Anakin nodded slowly. He understood. Far too well. _Force be with you, Cody._

“And with you.” Cody whispered, so quietly that Anakin almost didn’t hear it. The commander had deliberately faced south-west when they sat down. He was looking in that direction now, not at Anakin.

Anakin dropped a hand to Cody’s shoulder, squeezed, and curled his robes around himself before taking the first of his final steps towards Obi-Wan.

* * *

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> *May write this as a one shot, unless someone else wants to jump in. I’d love that, actually! Cody protecting Obi-Wan during the Clone Wars on some distant planet, or even on Coruscant, even when Obi-Wan forbids it. 
> 
> **Two brownie points for anyone who can figure out who I’ve named this clone after. 
> 
> The Oh Hellos 'I Have Made Mistakes': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czFgKa7YcIQ


End file.
